Dragon Hearts
by Shadeflame Phoenix
Summary: AU. Kitty has always hated dragons. When she meets a young dragon named Kurt, her views change entirely. But when disaster strikes the dragons, more importantly Kurt, can Kitty save the beasts who have become her friends?
1. Dragons

Hiya peepz! This is my newest (and second) story! Yes, I'm still writing Fallen Angel (those of you who've read it, anyways) I just wanted to get this one out there too. It's a brilliant plotbunny if I do say so myself, I can write about my favorite mythical creature ever! Also, as you may notice when you read this chapter, there will be more X-Men: Evolution characters in this story then there are in Fallen Angel! So read on, and please review!

Disclaimer: Obviously I don't own XME. Otherwise it wouldn't have ended at season four.

Summary: Kitty has always hated dragons. When she meets a young dragon named Kurt, her views change entirely. But when disaster strikes the dragons, can Kitty save the beasts who have become her friends?

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_**Dragon Hearts**_

1. Dragons

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Kitty had never liked dragons. Ever.

So why she was living in a house with her grandparents, who actually liked dragons, was what she would never know. Her parents had died a while back, and so she was sent to live with her grandparents – dragon fanatics – while she, herself hated them. Dearly.

What was there to like about those awful creatures anyways?

They had sharp claws and teeth, and could rip a person in half if they had the mind to. There were varying breath weapons, but certainly all caused destruction, right? Their wings could knock somebody back at least a hundred feet, and their scales were harder than any metal ever encountered, and were as sharp as knives when ruffled.

Kitty made it her business to know everything about dragons, if only to prove _why _she hated them.

And this was what she occupied her time with, finding out information on dragons and using it to find more ways to hate them, when her grandmother had to come in and say the six worst words in Kitty's life (at the time)

"You're going to Dragon Rider camp!"

Kitty really wanted to say sarcastically, "No, really, what did you want?" But she realized with a sinking heart that the evil words her grandma had spoken were true: she was being sent off to live with the creatures she hated, and have to learn to ride one, even.

She groaned and rolled over on her bed, trying to ignore the bright sunlight streaming in through her attic bedroom, as if in some sort of final resistance to the fact that she was leaving for the detestable camp. She'd tried everything – begging, pleading, being super-nice, doing chores without being asked, and being on her grandparents' good sides, among other things…but to no avail. She was still going, and that was that.

Oh, how she loathed Fate.

When she felt she couldn't draw it out any longer, she rolled out of bed and pulled on her boots – she'd gotten dressed a while ago, but had burrowed back under the covers in a vain attempt to fool her grandparents into thinking she was sleeping. Whoever said that old people weren't smart?

Kitty retrieved her small pack from beside the door – it contained all her worldly belongings, which wasn't much – and trudged down the old steps, wincing at every creak; now her grandparents knew she was up.

She tromped into the small kitchen; her grandmother was sitting by the table, reading the newspaper. "Good, you're up. Someone from the camp is coming by at nine to pick you up."

Kitty growled under her breath, consulting the time-reader on the table – 8:54. Well, she was screwed, there was no getting out of it now…

She grumbled, but she still walked out the door and sat by the front step to wait. And sure enough, someone came along.

And Kitty's only thought was: Did they have to ride a dragon?

* * *

Kitty inched out of the saddle and slid down the dragon's back, landing with a thump on the sandy ground, managing to keep her footing but her face hit the dust a second later. She stood up, hacking up sand, standing a bit wobbly. Another thing to add to her list of why to hate dragons: when you got off of one, you felt as though the very ground was going to fall away beneath your feet.

The dragon, along with its rider (whose name Kitty had never figured out) flew off, and left Kitty standing there wondering first, where she was supposed to be going, and second, how on earth had she managed to get herself stuck at dragon-riding camp.

"Hey!"

She turned at the voice, seeing a tall girl with shoulder-length black hair striding towards her. "Erm, hi?" Kitty mumbled.

"You're Kitty, right?"

Kitty nodded. "Who are you?"

"I'm Wanda. I'm new here like you. I heard you were coming today."

"Yay," muttered Kitty, falling into step beside the other girl.

"You don't like dragons much, huh?" Wanda pulled open the door to one of the sandy-colored buildings. "We get dragons tomorrow, you know."

"Ugh," grumbled Kitty. "You know they say that your mind completely changes when you bond to a dragon?"

"I've heard that. To be honest, I really couldn't care either way. My parents sent me here because they figured I'd have some sort of miraculous turnaround and not be totally sarcastic and prone to breaking their house." Wanda explained.

Kitty nodded. "I see. My grandparents sent me here because they're dragon fanatics and they think I'll stop hating dragons if I learn to ride one."

"Well, either way, we're going to find out tomorrow," said Wanda, crossing the hallway to a room. "You can room with me if you want; after tomorrow most riders usually go to their dragons' caves and stay there instead. So this place is just here for the new recruits."

Kitty gave a nod and said, "I don't really know where I'm going anyways, so might as well…"

Kitty walked into the room, looking around. Not much in it. There were two beds, on opposite sides of the room, and two small desks. Other than that, the room was pretty bare.

"Home sweet home, eh?" she muttered.

"Only for tonight," Wanda replied, choosing a bed. "We have the rest of the day to do whatever. Choosing starts tomorrow."

"Joy…" grumbled Kitty, not at all happy about the fact that she was going to have to ride a dragon. No, wait! Her brain pointed out that not everyone got chosen by a dragon! There was hope yet! Starting to feel happy for once, Kitty dropped her stuff on her bed. Either way, this place would only be her home for one more day.

She crossed to the window and peered outside; it was hard to see the rest of the camp, as it pretty much blended in with the surrounding sandstone, and the windowpane was flecked with grains of sand.

"Want to explore?" she asked Wanda, who looked up and shrugged. "Sure, I guess," the other replied, and they headed out of the room.

Kitty hopped down the steps, blinking her eyes against the bright sunlight, wondering vaguely if she'd ever get the scent of sand out of her nose.

There wasn't much else to the camp, just a couple more of one-story sandstone buildings lined up in a neat row. The desert stretched out along either side of the camp, in a wide panoramic view of never-ending sand. Across from the camp, separated by a yawning abyss, was a great plateau, pocketed with caves. The dragons' homes, Kitty assumed. She walked to the edge of the sheer cliff, glancing down out of habit. And what she saw took her breath away (though she hated to admit it, even to herself)

They were standing at the edge of a precipice, extending out over a great chasm, blanketed in shadows. Dragons of all sizes, shapes, and colors flew through the abyss, unbothered by the two humans that had appeared at the edge of the void.

After standing there a few moments, Kitty felt she had seen enough; turning, she walked back to the sandstone structure, Wanda trailing along behind her.

She looked up at the wide, blue sky, faint clouds crossing the sun's path.

Would she be chosen by a dragon?

Only tomorrow would tell.

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Yup, Kitty hates dragons. We'll see if that changes, won't we? *smirk* Anyways, you know what to do! *points to review button* Review!

~ Shadey


	2. Choosing a Dragon

Here's the second chapter of Dragon Hearts, peepz, since I felt I couldn't leave it at the first chapter, because then the dragons wouldn't have been introduced, and I just couldn't let that happen! So, readers and (maybe) reviewers, read on!

Disclaimer: Nope, last time I checked, I don't own XME. I only own my plot ideas! *grabs horde of plotbunnies sitting on her computer* All…mine!

Summary: Kitty has always hated dragons. When she meets a young dragon named Kurt, her views change entirely. But when disaster strikes the dragons, can Kitty save the beasts who have become her friends?

* * *

_**Dragon Hearts**_

2. Choosing a Dragon

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Kitty sat up slowly, blinking her eyes against the starkly shining sunlight that poured in through her window. Grumbling, she wondered briefly what made her choose the bed with the window, then remembered that whether or not she was chosen by a dragon, she wasn't coming back here today.

She walked outside with Wanda, finding herself being stuck in a line with other beginners. A girl paced back in forth in front of them – she was the one who would tell them what to do. She had brown hair that went to her shoulders and a streak of white in her bangs. Kitty had heard of her; the girl's name was Rogue. Rogue's gaze swept over them once, and she spoke.

"Today all of you will choose a dragon. Or some of you will. There is always the chance that some of you will not bond to a dragon." She paused. "I'm here to tell you all what to do."

Kitty almost zoned out, but figured she'd have to pay attention anyways – since she'd be going up there eventually.

Rogue gestured to a wooden platform jutting out over the abyss. "This is where you'll stand." To demonstrate, she walked up the small amount of stairs and walked close to the edge, then turned around to look back at them. "When you get up here, in order to signify to the dragons that you're going to try to choose one, you must stick your fist out in front of you, and whistle. The fist, is so they can smell you, they'll know if you're destined to be a dragon rider or not. The whistling is for them to hear yah. Watch." She turned back to the darkness of the void, and whistled, sticking out her fist. A dark shadow shot up from the blackness, landing beside her.

Kitty nearly gasped. It was a dragon, wings flared out, making it appear bigger.

The dragon was large, and Rogue appeared to be a dwarf next to it. It was a great brown dragon, with darker brown horns and claws. The barbed tip of its tail was the same color as its horns. Its eyes were strange, red-on-black. And on its forehead was a red, diamond-shaped jewel; the light hitting it made it shine like a small star, out of place against the dragon's brown scales.

Rogue patted the dragon's neck. "This here is Remy. He's my bonded dragon. If you're lucky, you'll get a dragon. If you're not, you won't." She walked back down the stage, Remy flying off. She pointed to someone. "You go first."

Kitty realized it was Wanda. Slowly the black-haired girl stepped out of the line and walked up the platform, looking rather small against the shadows of dragons flickering across the abyss.

Wanda whistled, sticking out her fist like Rogue had told them to do, and for a moment all was silence. Kitty watched in rapt fascination as a breeze blew over the ground, and a great orange dragon, its bright wings spread wide, landed before Wanda. Kitty listened vaguely as Rogue called out instructions, and hesitantly, Wanda reached up and put one hand against the dragon's bright orange jewel. It flared once, a bright star in the early morning. Then Wanda grabbed a saddle from the allotted pile, sitting over by the edge of the wooden platform; securing it to the dragon, she climbed on. For a moment both seemed to hang there on the edge, the dragon's claws dug into the flimsy wood; then the dragon dropped like a stone and vanished out of sight, its orange tail-tip disappearing out of Kitty's line of vision last.

Kitty let out a breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding, and waited, anxiety building up, as others went before her, some getting chosen, some not. She was the last in the line, waiting still, until Rogue called her name.

Stiffly, Kitty forced herself to walk past Rogue and up to the dais, closing her eyes for a moment, swallowing in a vain attempt to calm her nerves.

She slowly took the steps up, struggling slightly to make herself get across to the almost-edge. The blackness of the yawning chasm in the ground seemed waiting to swallow her up…

Rogue's voice cut through the paralysis, and Kitty, still trembling, forced herself to hold out her fist as she had been instructed, and whistled, a high, quavering note that appeared (to Kitty) to be consumed by the far louder noise the dragons in the canyon were making.

Silence…

Hope was beginning to appear in Kitty's mind. She heard Rogue's voice. The dragon rider was yelling, "Okay, you can come back now…!"

Kitty had not time to wonder why the other's words had cut off so abruptly; for a huge azure-blue dragon had soared up from the depths of the gorge. Its huge glowing golden eyes were fixed on her, and she couldn't move, couldn't speak… Faintly she noticed the horns, claws, and tail-tip of the dragon were the same indigo color as the gem on its forehead.

Her ears dimly registered that she was supposed to be doing something. Slowly, closing her eyes to stave off the dragon's golden stare, she reached up one hand slowly. The dragon snorted – a breath of hot air in her face. She closed her eyes tighter and waited for it to breathe fire on her. But nothing happened.

Instead she felt smooth dragon scales beneath her hand.

Slowly she opened her eyes; her hand was just below the jewel; trembling, she reached up, and set her hand against the cool surface of the indigo jewel.

Her world was fading away; all she could see was the bright gemstone, her hand upon it appearing to be rather small. The air seemed to swirl with blue, and she heard a voice, echoing through her head.

_**Welcome, dragon rider.**_

She had no doubt it was the dragon. _Who are you? _she thought, her thought-voice quavering slightly in fear.

_**I am Kurt.**_

_I'm Kitty,_ she replied. Suddenly the world came rushing back to her, and she blinked, her vision no longer filled with blue.

She remembered the other dragon riders (the ones who had been chosen anyways) had gone flying immediately afterwards. Kitty glanced at Rogue, who was standing by the platform. "Go on," the dragon rider stated. "First flight always cements the bond between you and your dragon. Go, now!"

Kitty's body automatically followed her instructions; Kitty's mind was still in a daze, swirls of blue swimming at the edges of her vision. She barely noticed when she threw the saddle over the dragon's back, securing the straps tightly. She only really noticed when she had climbed onto the saddle, staring out across the wide desert landscape.

She thought, in amazement, _I don't really hate dragons anymore…_

Any other thoughts were cut off when Kurt dropped like a stone from the platform, the darkness of the ravine coming up to meet them.

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We met Kurt! Woo! How many of you suspected he would be the dragon? Well? *remembers* Oh right, it was in the summary… Ah yes, remember to review!

~ Shadey


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